Includes bibliographical references and index.

Project management as a discipline has experienced near-exponential growth in its application across the business and not-for-profit sectors. This original, authoritative guide provides both practitioner and student researchers with a complete guide to research practice on project management.In Designs, Methods and Practices for Research of Project Management, Beverly Pasian has brought together original chapters from a veritable who's who of project management research including authors such as Harvey Maylor, Christophe Bredillet, Derek Walker, Miles Shepherd, Janice Thomas, Naomi Brookes and Darren Dalcher. The collection looks at research strategy, management, methodology, techniques as well as emerging topics such as social network analysis. The 38 chapters offer an international perspective with examples from a wide range of project management applications; engineering, construction, mega-projects, high-risk environments and social transformation.Each chapter includes tips and exercises for the research student, as well as a complete set of further references.

Cover; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Contributors; List of Abbreviations; Foreword; Introduction; Part I Foundational Issues; 1 Project Management Research: Addressing Integrative Challenges; 2 Project Management Research: Social Dimensions and Organisational Context; 3 The Paradigm as a Steering Mechanism for New Research Endeavours; 4 Finding a Way in Broceliande Forest: The Magic Domain of Project Management Research; 5 Ontology and Epistemology; 6 The Praxeology of Applied Research in Autoethnographical Research Settings: A Case Study of a Radical Learning Journey Part II Focusing Your Research Effort7 Research Methods and Success Meaning in Project Management; 8 The Constructive Research Approach: Problem Solving for Complex Projects; 9 Novel or Incremental Contributions: The Construction of Research Questions; 10 Moving from Hunches to a Research Topic: Salient Literature and Research Methods; 11 Moving from 'Hunches' to an Interesting Research Topic: Defining the Research Topic; 12 Ethical Considerations in Project Management Research; 13 Developing a Critical Literature Review for Project Management Research 14 Critical Engagement of Previous ResearchPart III Specific Data Collection and Analysis Techniques; 15 Interview Methods for Project Management Research; 16 Considering Case Studies in Project Management; 17 Linking Theory and Practice in Using Action-Oriented Methods; 18 Dual Cycle Action Research: A Doctor of Project Management (DPM) Research Case Study; 19 An Agile Approach to the Real Experience of Developing Research Methodology and Methods; 20 Giving Voice to the Project Management Practitioner ; 21 Enter or Not -- How to Gain and Sustain Access to Research Sites Part IV Examples of Mixed Methods Strategies22 Mixed Methods Research in Project Management; 23 The Value of Mixed Methods; 24 Managing Research in Large Collaborative Teams; 25 Applying Mixed Methods for Researching Project Management in Engineering Projects; 26 Importance of Sequencing in Mixed Methods Research Design ; 27 An Empirical Research Method Strategy for Construction Consulting Services Projects ; Part V Unique Environments for Project Management Research; 28 A Practical Research Method: The NETLIPSE Case Study 29 Using Multi-Case Approaches in Project Management Research: The Megaproject Experience30 Project Management Research in Post-Conflict Societies: Challenges and Complexities Identified in Kosovo; 31 Complexities of Oil and Gas Exploration in the Middle East; Part VI Writing as a Future Researcher; 32 Studying Relationships in Project Management Through Social Network Analysis; 33 Social Network Analysis Applied to Project Management; 34 The Electronic Portfolio -- A Research Enabler; Part VII Benefitting from Experience: Supervisors and Publications.